Connections
by Rosefern
Summary: They have a special connection. Finished.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Connection  
Author: Rosefern  
Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: Law & Order: Special Victims Units and all its characters belong to NBC and Dick Wolf.  
Summary: They've always had a special connection…  
Author's Notes: I dedicate this to the memory of my grandfather, who taught me about love, loss, and those special connections.

**Chapter 1 **

_Roosevelt__ Memorial Hospital  
__Room 222  
__November 12, 2005  
__2:00 AM _

As he entered her room, he drew a sharp intake of breath. She was lying there on the bed, ghostly pale, her eyes closed. The unsteady beeping of the heart monitor was unsettling. Erratic beating, the doctor said, very bad for her heart. He crossed the room, sat in the chair by her bedside, and put his head in his hands….

_Makita's Bar  
__23rd and Broadway  
__November 11, 2005  
__10:00 PM _

They were walking back from the bar at night.

"So, how are the kids?" She asked.

"Good, good. I took Lizzie and Dickie to the movies this weekend, and then they slept over. Had a great time." He replied, a smile on his face.

"That's great, I know how much you miss them." She said, smiling at him.

After a period of comfortable silence, they reached the car. He opened the passenger side door, and waited for her to get in.

"Thanks, but I think I'll walk tonight, get some fresh air." She said nonchalantly.

"You shouldn't be walking home this late at night." he said, slightly worried.

"My apartments three blocks away," she said, laughing, "I'll be fine."

"Suit yourself," he said, but he still had a nagging feeling something was going to happen. He shut the passenger side door and jogged around to the other side, and got in, just as she started walking down the block. He was about to place the key in the ignition, when he heard two gunshots. He looked up, and got out of the car, his hand reaching for his gun. He saw her lying on the sidewalk, and he couldn't get there fast enough. He holstered his gun, and knelt down beside her. Her chest was covered with blood, and she was having trouble breathing.

"El…Elliot," she gasped.

"It's ok, sweetheart, I'm here, I'm here," he answered, breathless.

He gripped her hand, and took his cell out, and dialed 911. The operator answered, and he bellowed into the phone,

"This is Detective Elliot Stabler, with the 1-6. My partner's been shot, send a bus now! Makita's bar, 23rd and Broadway. Suspect fled the scene." He hung up, and dropped the phone.

"Help is coming, you'll be ok." he said, soothingly.

"El…" she stuttered, coughing up blood.

"Sshhh, don't talk, it's ok, it's ok," he said, stroking her hair.

"I'm tired…" she said, drifting off.

"No, no, don't go to sleep, stay with me, Liv, stay with me…" he said, as he heard sirens off in the distance. "They're almost here, you'll be ok, you'll be ok…"

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

_Roosevelt__ Memorial Hospital  
__Waiting Room  
__November 12, 2005  
__1:00 AM _

He sat in the waiting room, waiting for her doctor to come out and tell him… Cragen was there, sitting next to him. They couldn't get a hold of Munch, or Fin. The two men both held untouched cups of cold coffee in their hands. Cragen tapped the side of his cup, watching the ripples form, and then die away. A man covered in bloody surgical scrubs walked over, glanced around, and then spoke.

"Gentlemen?"

Elliot and Cragen both sprang up.

"I'm Dr. Michaels, Detective Benson's surgeon. You must be Detective Stabler, and Captain Cragen."

They nodded.

"Is she ok? Is she…" Elliot couldn't say the word, as if saying it would make it true.

"She made it through surgery, with some complications. One bullet grazed her arm, nothing a couple of stitches didn't fix. However, the other bullet punctured her right lung, and caused massive internal bleeding and hemorrhaging. We were able to patch most of it up but…." Dr Michaels trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"But…what?" Elliot asked

"Her heart is beating erratically, fast one second, slowing down the next. It's not good, her heart will eventually get too tired to keep working. Her breathing is also unsteady. She's also in a coma, which she could very well come out of, but the next 24 hours are crucial." he finished.

Elliot looked down at the floor, and then back up at the doctor.

"Can I see her?" he asked.

"Yes, room 222. Down the hall to your right."

Elliot started off, and Cragen and Dr. Michaels followed a couple minutes later.

_November 12, 2005  
__2:00 AM  
__Roosevelt__ Memorial Hospital  
__Hallway _

Captain Cragen and Dr. Michaels stood outside Olivia's hospital door, watching as Elliot sat by her bed.

"Does she have any family?" the doctor asked.

"No," the captain replied, "He's the only thing she's got." He watched his two best detectives, one lying ghostly pale on the bed, the other right next to her.

_November 12, 2005  
__2:00 AM  
__Roosevelt__ Memorial Hospital  
__Room 222 _

As he entered her room, he drew a sharp intake of breath. She was lying there on the bed, ghostly pale, her eyes closed. The unsteady beeping of the heart monitor was unsettling. Erratic beating, the doctor said, very bad for her heart. He crossed the room, sat in the chair by her bedside, and put his head in his hands. As the events of the evening passed through his mind, he reached for her hand. It was cold and lifeless. Suddenly the heart monitor changed, taking up a different pace….

_November 12, 2005  
__2:00 AM  
__Roosevelt__ Memorial Hospital  
__Room 222 _

The beating slowed, taking up a more steady pace. Her breathing slowed too, becoming less raspy, more regulated. The doctor, waiting outside with Cragen, starred wide-eyed through the glass wall at the machines.

"That's impossible. The minute he touched her, everything is normal again." he said, disbelievingly. "Impossible. There's no way she could consciously know he's there. She's in coma."

Cragen couldn't help but grin, "They're two of my best detectives, and they have an amazing connection with one another. They finish each other's sentences, it's almost like they can read each other's minds. They can have conversations without words."

"But there's no possible way, consciously, that she could know-"

"Their connection has always been subconscious, spiritual even."

The doctor stared in disbelief, then went inside the room to examine his patient.

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	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: This chapter might be kind of confusing. Basically, the whole thing is a flashback, except for bits at the end and the beginning. It's told from a third-person point of view, to make things easier, but it's Elliot relaying the story to Dr. Michaels.

**Chapter 3 **

_Roosevelt__ Memorial Hospital  
__Roof  
__November 12, 2005  
__3:00 AM _

Elliot was standing on the roof, leaning on the wall that encased it. He heard a noise from the right, and turned, seeing Dr. Michaels walk up in a long black coat. As the doctor neared, Elliot thrust his hands in his pockets. When Dr. Michaels was standing in front of him, he said,

"Your captain told me I could find you up here."

Elliot didn't answer. The stood in silence, and then Dr. Michaels spoke.

"You two are really close, aren't you."

Elliot nodded, and said, "How bad is it, Doc? Really, how bad is it?"

"I won't lie to you. It doesn't look good. But she's strong, and, like I said, the next 24 hours are crucial.

"One thing I would like to know, however," he said, continuing, "is how the minute you touch her, her breathing and heart rate go back to normal." He had a look of puzzlement on his face.

Elliot took a deep breath, and then started talking. "We've always had a sort of…connection. It's like I know what she's thinking, what she's about to say, what she's about to do. After 20 years of marriage, I don't know my wife as well as I know my partner.

"There was this thing a couple of years ago….

_Java Joe's  
__Corner of 17th and Century  
__July 23rd, 2003  
__2:00 PM _

Olivia jogged out of the coffee shop, a latte in her hand. Out of habit, she opened the passenger side door, then remembered, shut it, and went around to the driver's side. She opened the door, slid in, and placed the coffee in the cup holder. It had been awhile since she drove. Usually Elliot was always at the wheel, but he had a case in the Bronx today. She shut the car door, and just as she began looking for the keys, her cell phone, sitting on the dash, rang shrilly.

She picked it up. "Benson."

"Olivia," came Cragen's voice. He sounded nervous and panicked. "Where are you."

"I'm in the car, outside Java Joe's. Why?" she asked, puzzled.

"I need you to get down to Roosevelt, there was a shooting…"

The blood drained from her face. "Wh..Who?" she stuttered.

"Elliot." came his reply.

"Is he ok?" she asked, breathless.

"He's in surgery now, the doctors won't tell me a thing. Hurry."

"I'll be right there," she said, and hung up.

Oh my god. Elliot. The shock hit her in a huge wave. Suddenly she felt an impact from the back of the car, and her head hit the steering wheel. She looked back just in time to see a car speed off. She touched her head, felt a cut, and looked in the mirror. It wasn't bad. She got out of the car. She was ok, but the car wasn't. The back end looked like an accordion. She didn't have time for this. She grabbed her keys, locked the car, and flagged down a cab. She had to get to that hospital.

_Roosevelt__ Hospital  
__Waiting Room  
__July 23rd, 2003  
__3:00 PM _

She rushed into the waiting room, saw Captain Cragen, and jogged over to him.

"Is he…." she trailed off.

Cragen stood up, a smile on his face. "He's fine. He got out of surgery 15 minutes ago. The doctor was just out here. The bullet grazed his arm, and it bled a whole lot, but he's fine."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Can I see him?"

"Room 116." Cragen answered. "I'll wait here."

She nodded, and rushed off down the hall.

_Roosevelt__ Hospital  
__Room 116  
__July 23rd, 2003  
__3:00 PM _

As she came to Room 116, the doctor was just leaving.

"He's awake," he said, smiling. "He'll probably drift off, though. He's pretty drowsy. Don't worry about the bandages on his eyes. The drugs we gave him in surgery sometimes cause painful reactions to light, so we need to wait until the drugs wear off."

"Ok," she said, and walked in alone.

"Hey, partner," she said, smiling as she walked over to the bed.

"Olivia?" he asked sleepily.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm here." she said, taking his hand.

"Are you ok?" he asked, concern in his voice.

She was confused. "El, I wasn't there. I wasn't in the shooting."

"No, not the shooting" he said, impatient. "Your head. The car accident." Then he drifted off to sleep. She touched the cut on her head. She was puzzled. He couldn't have seen the cut, and he was in surgery when she got in the accident….

_Roosevelt__ Hospital  
__Room 116  
__July 25th, 2003  
__12 Noon _

In two days, Elliot was clear to go. He was in the bathroom, changing, and Olivia was sitting on the bed, waiting. The cut on her head had healed, and neither had mentioned what he said about the accident.

"Hey, Elliot?" she said when he came out.

"Yeah, Liv?" he answered.

"When you came out of surgery, and had the bandages on your eyes, you asked me if I was ok. I said I was, that I wasn't there during the shooting. You said, 'no, not the shooting, the car accident.' Why did you ask that?" she said.

"It was weird. I had this dream that you were in a hit-and-run outside Java Joe's, and had cut your head. But it was just a dream." he said, shrugging it off.

"But El," she said. "I was in a hit-and-run outside Java Joe's, and did get a cut on my head. It happened while you were in surgery."

They looked at each other, disbelievement on their faces…

_Back To Present _

"That is uncanny," the doctor said after hearing the story.

"I know. We were both pretty freaked out afterwards. But nothing like that ever happened again." Elliot finished.

"You two are closer than I thought."

"She's my best friend. I don't know what I'll do if I lose her…"

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	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_November 14, 2005  
8__:00 AM  
__Roosevelt Memorial Hospital  
__Room 222_

Elliot sat by her bed, holding her hand. She looked so peaceful, just like she was sleeping. Only he couldn't wake her up. The room was adorned with flowers from Cragen, Munch, Fin, and a load of other cops.

"Wake up, Liv, please, wake up," he begged, "I need you. Please wake up."

No response. A silent tear rolled down his cheek as he gripped her hand tighter. He closed his eyes. After a moment, he heard a whispered,

"Elliot?"

He opened his blue eyes, only to be met with her brown ones. "Liv," he said huskily.

"Where am I?" she asked, glancing around.

"You're in the hospital. You were shot. Do you remember?" he said.

"Yeah, it's coming back to me now," Olivia said.

Then the doctor walked in, and, upon seeing his patient awake, he smiled. "Good to see you conscious," he said. He walked over to the bed, checked her vitals, and then spoke.

"One bullet grazed your arm, nothing a couple of stitches didn't fix. However, the other bullet punctured your right lung, and caused massive internal bleeding and hemorrhaging. We were able to patch it up. You've been in a coma for two days." he paused, then continued.

"I expect you to make a full recovery, but you'll need to take it easy for 3-4 weeks, to make sure you don't pull the stitches in your chest or your arm. You'll also need someone to stay with you, to make sure there are no…complications. So you'll need to make arrangements," he finished, and walked to the door, then he turned and said,

"Also, Olivia, 'taking it easy' means no work-"

"What about paperwork?" she interrupted.

"No work…period." he said smiling. "I'll be in later to check on everything." he said, walking out.

"I'll stay with you," Elliot said.

"El, you don't have to-"

"Yes, I do." he said.

"OK," she said, and, gripping his hand, she looked into his eyes. From that moment they knew everything was going to be ok. They were partners, after all.

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